Hands on science

We had nice short school week that ended on a high note today at our homeschool co-op. I was assisting in the K-1st program where we had a science lesson, a brief Spanish lesson and some time in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd atrium. Jake and Ryan are working on a unit study with other 2nd and 3rd graders and also have the opportunity to take a class on Gregorian chant.

The science lesson was on organs in the human body. The lead teacher had a fabulous lesson plan. She had a body poster for each child with stickers for the major organs she had placed on already. Then we went through several major ones and discussed their function. For each organ she had a short hands-on type of activity to bring it home for the kids and then they placed the label sticker themselves. For the brain we did a round of Simon Says. For the lungs we used a latex balloon illustrate inhaling and exhaling. We found our pulses, listened to our hearts and did a resting vs. activity pulse experiment. We saw how the liver acts like a coffee filter to clean our blood. We had a particularly icky demonstration of the large intestine. Mrs. Carr had pre-mixed up individual baggies with chocolate cake mix and oatmeal to familiar consistantcy (unless you suffer with some bowel issues!) then we cut a corner off the baggie and the children squeezed out the mix and saw how God designed our bodies to get rid of body trash. Ewww! Then the children got to demonstrate how our bladder collects and releases liquid waste using water balloons and a safety pin.

Isn't that a wonderful lesson? I know these kids will not soon forget the amazing functions of our organs. I think I had just as much fun as they did!

Reality Check

I came across this site visiting Tienne's blog Take The Poor With You. I admire Tienne and am especially grateful for this blog reference.

Reading through this site forced me into a stark reality check. The human rights situation in China is not rosy. I can't help but wonder why this isn't discussed more often in our media. I really have no clear answer.

I think in the China adoption community there is a real concern that discussing these issues might put adoptions in jeopardy. That is probably not unfounded. I am going to add this link to my sidebar and I hope you will visit it, read and pray for the people of China.

Yippee!

Some friends of our will be getting the referral of their daughter today. Their LID was 11/22/05. Our was 05/23/05 and we have have been home with Mary Clare for almost 18 months. I truly do not know how that have held it together during this wait that has kept growing and stretching, but I completely admire them. I do know that either today or tomorrow, after they see her sweet face for the first time, those months of waiting will seem like days and they will know that this little one was meant just for them.